Fares flying too high?

FARE DEAL: More passengers would allow larger planes to use Palmerston North Airport, lowering the cost of flights.

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Filling up bigger planes is the best hope for regional airports wanting to eke cheaper fares out of Air New Zealand, says Palmerston North Airport chief executive David Lanham.

Prime Minister John Key added his voice this week to calls from around New Zealand for lower regional airfares, with expectations fuelled by the airline's recently posted 45 per cent profit increase.

Lanham said the reality was that flying small aircraft for small markets was a great deal more expensive than filling larger aircraft on main routes.

The 19-seater Beech 1900D aircraft used on many of the regional routes, such as the Palmerston North to Nelson link, were an example of aircraft that were the right size for the market, but with relatively expensive seat prices.

Air New Zealand was changing the Nelson services to less frequent, larger Q300 flights next year.